REGION
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022
THE OBSERVER — A3
Pine Creek landowners sue over gate blocking access
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — Two
couples who own prop-
erty along Pine Creek west
of Baker City have sued
David McCarty, who bought
land in the area in 2020 and
installed a locked gate across
the road leading to the cou-
ples’ properties.
James and Sharen
Sanders, and Thomas and
Betty Ann Lager, fi led the
suit in late July in Baker
County Circuit Court. Each
couple is seeking a monetary
award of at least $250,000 as
compensation for what they
contend is the loss of enjoy-
ment of their properties.
They are represented by
attorney Anne Cohen, of the
Betts, Patterson & Mines
law fi rm in Portland.
The defendants are
McCarty, Joelleen Linstrom,
who lives with McCarty
and is described in the law-
suit as his agent, as well as
three companies in which
McCarty has an ownership
interest.
Linstrom said on Monday,
Aug. 15, that she couldn’t
comment on the lawsuit.
Tom Lager said he needed
to talk with the other defen-
dants before commenting
publicly.
McCarty is the plaintiff
in another lawsuit related to
the Pine Creek Road, which
he fi led in April 2021 with
Baker County as the defen-
dant. McCarty is seeking
either a ruling that the dis-
puted section of the Pine
Creek Road that crosses
his property is not a public
right-of-way, or, if a jury
concludes there is legal
public access on the road,
that the extent of the access
be defi ned and that the
county pay him $730,000
to compensate for the lost
value of his land due to the
right-of-way.
McCarty’s lawsuit is
pending, with court hearings
tentatively scheduled for Oct.
31 and the week of Dec. 19.
In response to McCa-
rty’s lawsuit, the Baker
County Board of Commis-
sioners has been pursuing
a legal action to declare the
Pine Creek Road, including
the section across the prop-
erty that McCarty bought in
September 2020, as a public
route.
Commissioners are
scheduled to approve a reso-
Contributed Photo, File
David McCarty installed this gate across the Pine Creek Road at his
property boundary during the fall of 2020. The road passes through
property that McCarty owns. During a public hearing on April 19,
2022, a group of local residents who enjoy visiting the area urged
Baker County commissioners to preserve public access to the road.
lution related to declaring the
road as public during their
meeting Wednesday, Aug. 17
at 9 a.m. at the Courthouse,
1995 Third St.
New lawsuit
The Sanderses and
Lagers contend in the law-
suit that McCarty and Lin-
strom have infringed on
their ability to enjoy their
properties by installing
the locked gate, setting up
cameras “to monitor the
attempted use of Pine Creek
Road,” and “attempted pri-
vatization of Pine Creek
Road.”
The couples are each
seeking monetary damages
of at least $250,000.
They are also asking
for a judgment that con-
fi rms that both couples
can access their properties
“without notice to or per-
mission from any Defen-
dant and without intimida-
tion, harassment, assault, or
threat of interference.”
The couples also are
asking that a judge issue
a warrant to the Baker
County Sheriff mandating
that the sheriff remove
the gate and the cameras
McCarty installed.
Among the parcels that
the Lagers and Sanderses
own are ones completely
surrounded by McCarty’s
property. The Pine Creek
Road is the only vehicular
access to their properties,
according to the lawsuit.
“Defendants ignored
the real and private prop-
erty rights of the Sanders
and the Lagers, even
though Defendants knew
or should have known that
the Sanders and the Lagers
relied solely on Pine Creek
Road for ingress and egress
to their respective proper-
ties,” the lawsuit states.
The plaintiff s contend in
the lawsuit that the defen-
dants, who have logged
the McCarty property, also
felled trees on the Sanders
property, and removed pad-
locks the Sanderses had
installed on their cabin and
replaced them with other
locks, and blocked vehicle
access to the couple’s cabin
with “one or more large
obstacles in the driveway.”
“They also installed
new boundary posts on
the Sanders Property and
around the Sanders Cabin
and ‘no trespassing’ signs
that claimed the Sanders
Property belonged to
McCarty,” the lawsuit
contends.
The lawsuit also accuses
the defendants of fi nan-
cial abuse and elder abuse,
stating that due to their ages
and to Sharen Sanders’ dis-
ability, they are both “vul-
nerable people as defi ned in
ORS 124.100(e).”
James Sanders is 69 and
Sharen Sanders is 81 and
legally blind, according to
the lawsuit.
The suit also claims
fi nancial abuse and elder
abuse against Tom Lager,
who is 68, due to his age.
The lawsuit claims
“McCarty and the other
Defendants knew or should
have known that interfer-
ence with Plaintiff s’ real
property, timber, and per-
sonal property would infl ict
severe mental or emotional
distress and Plaintiff s are
entitled to damages for this
infl iction.”
Silvies Valley Ranch unveils Claire’s Course putt ing green
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
Claire’s Course sits on one side of Otter Lake in front of the resort’s
lodge and log cabins. The course has water hazards on both sides and
is roughly 720 feet long.
SILVIES — Making golf
more accessible and recog-
nizing the role of women in
the game was the inspiration
behind designing a putting
course at The Retreat, Links
and Spa at Silvies Valley
Ranch.
This summer, Silvies
Valley opened Claire’s
Course, an 18-hole revers-
ible putting course named
after Claire Owens, the
fi rst woman to play golf in
Silvies.
Scott Campbell, the
resort’s owner, said that
besides honoring an infl u-
ential woman from Silvies
Valley, the putting course
aims to make the game fun
for everyone and put golf
clubs in as many hands as
possible.
“We’re trying to get the
whole family involved,”
Campbell said. “Not just the
guys.”
Campbell said the new
course is the fi rst of its kind
and is designed to be played
simultaneously in opposite
directions, east to west and
west to east. Free to guests
of the resort, the 720-foot
course circles the lower half
of Otter Lake, right outside
the resort’s lodge and log
cabins, and has water haz-
ards on each hole.
The course is the creation
of Dan Hixson, the designer
of the resort’s two 18-hole
reversible courses, Hankins
and Craddock, which were
recognized by Golf Digest
as two of the top four best
new courses of 2018.
The reversible design
means just that. One day
you can play the course in
one direction, and the next
you can play in the opposite
direction.
Campbell said most put-
ting courses being built
these days are on vast
expanses of greens and take
after the Himalayas putting
course at the St. Andrews
Ladies Putting Club in
Scotland. The Himalayas,
which gets its name from
the undulating nature of its
terrain, is believed to have
been the world’s fi rst putting
course.
“Real Food for
the People”
Open
Fri-Sun Take-out
Menu
5pm-8pm Updated
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www.tendepotstreet.com
541-963-8766
tendepotstreet@gmail.com
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